With all of the proceeds going to Phoenix Suns Charities, the Suns & Stars Gala is an event that allows Valley residents to rub elbows with Suns players and personalities. This years event took place Saturday at the Sheraton in downtown Phoenix and featured the legendary musical group Kool & the Gang. add to del.icio.us.look up in del.icio.us.add to furl
The Phoenix Suns today assigned rookie forward Earl Clark to the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League, it was announced today by Suns President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Steve Kerr. add to del.icio.us.look up in del.icio.us.add to furl
Well Folks it's mid march and we're in the middle of a usual western conference home stretch battle. Lets take a look at our remaining schedule as well at our foes remaining schedule and try to get a sense of where we'll finish. I'm not sure if any of you have taken a look at our remaining schedule but It's a DOOZEY to say the least. Don't judge me for saying DOOZEY....I've never said it before but I decided to take a walk on the danger side and give it a try.
Anyways...back to the schedule.
March 16: vs Minnesota (14-53) W March 19: vs Utah (42-24) M March 21: vs Portland (41-28) M March 22: AT Golden State (18-47) W March 26: vs New York (23-43) W March 28: AT Minnesota (14-53) W March 30: AT Chicago (31-34) W March 31: AT New Jersey (7-59 The Lopezapooloza...I'm on a friggin' role here, seriously.) W April 2: AT Detroit (23-43) W April 3: AT Milwaukee (36-29) M April 7: vs San Antonio (39-25) M April 9: AT Oklahoma City (41-24) M April 11: vs Houston (33-31) M April 13: vs Denver (45-21) M April 14: AT Utah (42-24) M Combined Record: 452-538
7 For Sure Wins, 8 Maybes
Legend : W=Win M=Maybe
As you can see that isn't tough looking but playing Minnesota twice and New Jersey has to do with it. To the right of the record I have put a predicted win or maybe based on hours and hours of scientifical mathematics, red bulls and edamacated guessing.
Basically what I'm saying is despite our long home stand we have a schedule that is going to KICK our ass. We have two crucial games against Utah along with games against SA, OKC, and Portland all of which are seperated by a measly 2.5 games...I didn't count Denver since I'd pretty much rule them out of reach. So, what do you guys(Or sexy ladies out there...Do we any sexy ladies on this site..If we do and you are single just know that I love you...I also loved the married ones but in a different forbidden lust kind of way.) think? I'd say we would be LUCKY to win 10 games.
Now, lets take a look at our four biggest threats...Utah, OKC, SA, and Portland
Opponents projected record based on total guessing:
Oklahoma City: 7 Wins 10 Maybes Utah: 11 Wins 5 Maybes San Antonio: 5 Wins 13 Maybes...I marked Phoenix down as a maybe just because Tony Parker is out. Portland: 5 Wins 8 Maybes
Did this post help your confusion or just make you more confused? I'd say outside of Utah we have the easiest schedule and I'm saying that lightly. It all depends on Nash's Back, Barbosa's reintroduction into the offense and our now in question center position. I'd say at the ABSOLUTE best we can get a fifth seed, our worst being the seventh seed.
What do you guys think? What's our ceiling and what's our bottom? How do you like your chances and who do you think is the best play off match up? Either way we're not getting home court advantage unless D-Williams blows up...Who would you rather play on the road...Utah, Dallas, or Denver?
The Suns had a fairly light practice today. Shooting drills, a couple of game situations.
Grant Hill was present but was told he couldn't practice/play for 24 hours following the injury but he said he's feeling fine today with just a little neck pain, "I was on the ground. I was pissed off they didn't call the foul really to be honest. That's what I was mad about. By the time I was ready to get up Aaron (Nelson) came over and I think just because of the way I fell he was like, 'don't move, where are you, who you playing' all those different questions and stuff. Once I pass that test he allowed me to get up."
Grant said the rest of his body feels great after only playing 20 minutes. Coach Gentry also said the he would be shocked if there was any issue with Grant playing on Tuesday.
If you're interested, Grant also talked more about Duke and college basketball in general...
Amare Stoudemire sat out practice as well. He's got some minor bumps and bruises along with some kind of toe thing going on. By the looks of his 36 points and 14/14 from the line last night, he's doing OK.
Leandro said he talked to Coach Gentry and that he will definitely be ready to play on Tuesday. He said he expects about 10 minutes.
Coach Gentry talked about Earl Clark going to Iowa to play in three games this week, "We looked at it and we had thought about sending him down the whole year but then we wanted to keep him up for the practice situations and things like that...He's got a real bright future here. We want try and do everything we can to help him become a better player and we just thought at this time for him to go down and play might really help him and help our team down the road somewhere."
The Energy have three home games this week so Earl can get in 30 to 35 minutes over that stretch.
Gentry said that he's never seen a playoff stretch like this with so many teams playing so well but the Suns still hold their destiny in their hand
Goran is about 80% because this was the first time he sprained that ankle which is harder than future times. Gentry thought he played well against the Hornets and called him a "tough kid"
Gentry said that Amare has been more aggressive which is forcing fouls to be called and the Suns are going to him a lot more and he's responded and come through for the team. Gentry is impressed with the improved decision-making as well
Grant said there some new sets designed for he and JRich. The team is doing more things to prepare for the half court, slower pace of the playoffs
Gentry said he expects LB's shot to be inconsistent at first (he's looked good in practice to me) because he's not tested it (right wrist) in game situations yet
t will be tough to sort out how to work LB back into the rotation but the Suns need to find out how much he can help the team
If you listen to the audio of Gentry you will hear noise from the three-on-three going on at the other end of the court. With Earl off to Iowa, Dan Majerle stepped in and went pretty hard. He ended up tearing his T-shirt and generally just having a good time. Early in the recording you hear Gentry stop and go, "oh shit". That was in response to a vicious one handed dunk by Robin over Lou.
15 games and about 30 days left in the season. That's kind of amazing to consider. It feels like yesterday we were having media day and preseason season game. It's gone fast but the end is near.
Fortunately, this year the Suns season won't be ending on April 15th. Barring a disaster of epic proportions - we are talking 2012 end of the world proportions - the Suns will play at least four post season games.
The standings as of today are:
Obviously, the Suns want to win the games they play and try and get the fourth seed and home court advantage but barring that I think the 6th seed is a better option. That way the Suns don't play the Lakers until the Western Conference Finals.
In the first round the most likely opponents are the Mavs, Nuggets, Jazz or Thunder.
The Spurs btw, have 5 more sets of back to backs and check out their opponents on the 2nd night: @ Magic, @ Thunder, @ Nets, @ Suns, and @ Denver. Without Tony Parker and with that schedule they will lucky to hold on to the 8th seed.
PHOENIX -- Steve Nash played in his 1,000th career game on Sunday, helping his team to an easy 120-106 win over the New Orleans Hornets. Until a couple of days ago, Nash wasn't even aware of the approaching milestone, one he now shares with only nine other players who are active in the league.
"I didn't even know," Nash said. "If you would have asked me two or three days ago, two days ago, before [a reporter] said to me, 'this is your 1000th game,' I couldn't have guessed if it was 600 or 900 or whatever. It was a nice surprise."
Once the moment had arrived, Nash seemed to appreciate what it takes to play that many games, and to do so at the high level that he's been able to maintain for the past several seasons.
"To play 1000 games, it's amazing," Nash said. "Part of me feels like, it just means I'm old. But if someone would have told me when I was 15, 16, 17 years old that I would play 1000 games as a professional basketball player, I'd have probably been pretty happy."
The Suns have assigned rookie forward Earl Clark to the Iowa Energy of the Development League. It is the Suns' second D-League assignment this year following Taylor Griffin's stint.
If you're a Phoenix fan hopeful of watching Clark back on the Phoenix bench where he's been for the vast majority of this season, don't get too worked up. If Clark's assignment is what the Suns often do, he'll be back real soon.
Before the season, Las Vegas oddsmakers set the over/under on Phoenix wins at 40—expecting that the Suns' run of playoff appearances and playing a serious role in the Western Conference was over.
Of course, that was with the understanding that Amar'e Stoudemire would change addresses and Steve Nash and Grant Hill were on their last legs as NBA players.
Sunday night, with a month left in the season, the Suns won their 41st game with an easy victory over New Orleans, Stoudemire, who's still a Sun, continued to ring up 30-point games with 36 points and 12 rebounds. And Nash, playing in his 1,000th NBA game, collected 13 points and 12 assists as the Suns moved within a game of fifth place and further cemented another trip to the postseason.
ROTATION: Starters -- Point guard Steve Nash, Shooting guard Jason Richardson, Small forward Grant Hill, Power forward Amar'e Stoudemire, Center Robin Lopez. Bench -- Center Jarron Collins, Center Channing Frye, Forward Jared Dudley, Guard Goran Dragic, Forward Louis Amundson, Forward Earl Clark, Forward Taylor Griffin.
PLAYER NOTES:
--G Jason Richardson continues to be the barometer for Phoenix victories. The Suns improved to 21-4 when he scores 20 or more points this season. Richardson tallied 20 points Sunday, the fourth time in his last five games and eighth in his last 11 that he has done so. Richardson now has nine 20-point efforts in the 14 games since the All-Star break, compared to 16 in 50 games before the break (32.0 percent).
--G Steve Nash played his 1,000th career regular season game. Nash made his NBA debut on Nov. 1, 1996 against the L.A. Lakers. He had 12 assists after collecting 13 in his last two games combined. "Part of me feels like it just means I'm old, but if someone had told me when I was 15, 16, 17 years old that I'd play a thousand games as a professional basketball player, I'd probably have been pretty happy," Nash said.
Suns coach Alvin Gentry said the 1,000 games don't tell the whole story for Nash.
"Those 480 or 500 games that he's played here or whatever it is, is probably more like 650 with the pace that he's played the last six years," Gentry said, "The things that he's done with this team and all the plays that we've asked him to make... that's a lot of miles right there."
--F Amar'e Stoudemire had another strong double-double effort with 36 points and 12 rebounds Sunday. He is averaging 30.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 11.6 free-throw attempts over the last seven games.
He recorded his seventh 30-point effort since the All-Star break, and his fourth in his last five games and his fifth in his last seven games. Stoudemire was a perfect 14-for-14 from the line. In the last two games, he has made a total of 23 free-throws while Suns opponents have made a combined 28.
MEDICAL WATCH:
--G Leandro Barbosa is still out with a wrist injury and is now day-to-day. The Suns expect him to play for the first time in 24 games on Tuesday night against Minnesota.
--F Grant Hill left the game with five minutes left in the third quarter after suffering a mild concussion. Hill fell backward after a drive to the basket and smacked the back of his head on the floor. He was able to leave the court on his own power. His status for Tuesday's game with Minnesota is undetermined.
--The Suns won the season series against the Hornets for the first time since 2006-07 (3-1). Phoenix has defeated New Orleans in four of the last five meetings following a series-long six-game losing streak (Dec. 15, 2007-Feb. 27, 2008).
--With the win, the Suns moved past the idle San Antonio Spurs into sole possession of sixth place in the West. Phoenix trails the fifth-place Oklahoma City Thunder by one game (two games in the loss column).
--Phoenix followed a loss with a win for the sixth straight time. The Suns have not lost consecutive games since Jan. 25-26.
--Sunday's win was the seventh straight for Phoenix against an opponent with a sub-.500 record at the time of the game. The Suns are now 20-9 against teams with a losing record this season.
--Phoenix has played well against the West at home. They are now 15-5 this season, including 6-1 against the Southwest Division and a 2-0 record against New Orleans. Phoenix won for the 22nd time in its last 27 home games against the West dating back to 2008-09.
--Phoenix improved to 18-1 when scoring 110 or more points at home this season and 27-6 overall.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It was a must-win since this is a team we were supposed to beat at home. We're now trying to get to the playoffs and have a nice little home stretch here and have the Timberwolves coming up, and that's a must-win and we're looking to move up from the seventh spot and it's really tight right now, so you can't slip up." -- Suns forward Jared Dudley.
Before the season, Las Vegas oddsmakers set the over/under on Phoenix wins at 40 -- expecting that the Suns' run of playoff appearances and playing a serious role in the Western Conference was over.
Of course, that was with the understanding that Amar'e Stoudemire would change addresses and Steve Nash and Grant Hill were on their last legs as NBA players.
Sunday night, with a month left in the season, the Suns won their 41st game with an easy victory over New Orleans, Stoudemire, who's still a Sun, continued to ring up 30-point games with 36 points and 12 rebounds. And Nash, playing in his 1,000th NBA game, collected 13 points and 12 assists as the Suns moved within a game of fifth place and further cemented another trip to the postseason.
The only negative of the night came when Hill went down hard in the third quarter and slammed the back of his head on the court. He was diagnosed with a mild concussion and went home with a nasty headache, but that appears to be the extent of it.
Friday's loss to the Lakers was quickly put in the rear-view mirror and the Suns rebounded from a loss with a win for the sixth straight time. There were a few hiccups in the third quarter when the Hornets briefly gained the lead, but the tables turned quickly and the Suns assumed command.
Now 2-1 three games into a seven-game homestand, Phoenix gets Minnesota on Tuesday before facing fourth-place Utah on Thursday.
"It's a good win and we've been playing good basketball," Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said. "We've won 15 out of 20 and we've moved up one spot. Welcome to the West."
SUNS 120, HORNETS 106: Amar'e Stoudemire continued his scoring explosion with 36 points and 12 rebounds and Steve Nash added 13 points and 12 assists in his 1,000th game as the Suns beat the Hornets for the third time in four meetings this season.
Jason Richardson added 20 points for Phoenix, who has won 15 of its last 20 games. Marcus Thornton had 28 points and David West added 24 for the Hornets.
Warriors guard Raja Bell is perhaps most known for his rivalry
with
Los
Angeles
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant.
During his days with the Phoenix Suns, Bell was Bryant's
personal defender in multiple playoff series. The heated matchup
included verbal jabs, elbows and shoves, a couple of physical
altercations and zero love lost.
But ask Bell who's the best player in the game, and he'll answer
without hesitation. He won't say LeBron James or Dwyane Wade or
Carmelo Anthony.
Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash watches a free throw by the New Orleans Hornets, as Hornets guard Darren Collison, rear, also watches in the first quarter of an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 14, 2010, in Phoenix.
The Phoenix Suns have assigned first-round draft pick Earl Clark to the Iowa Energy of the NBA Development League. The 6-foot-10 Clark was the 14th overall pick in the draft out of Louisville but has not been part of Phoenix's regular rotation. He has appeared in 45 games, averaging 2.7 points and 1.1 rebounds in 7.6 minutes per contest. add to del.icio.us.look up in del.icio.us.add to furl
(Pau) Gasol received a Flagrant Foul 1 after league officials reviewed the foul in which Gasol struck Amundson's head during Friday night's game. The play led to Gentry's ejection and a $25,000 fine for the coach.
PHOENIX -- 
The 